At the annual mHIMSS (“mobile health or simply mHealth Information Systems Society) Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, thought leaders from various companies came together to discuss new care models and innovation.

Essentially, the industry would like to find ways to combine mobile engagement with the ‘FICO score’ of health, and use mobile technology to reach out to and engage patients.

However, these large companies also recognized that the innovation may not come from them, but from others in the room at this very conference.

The speakers invited entrepreneurs with ideas to pitch the speakers’ companies. One early attempt to innovate by two large companies around score cards comes from Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft. Johnson & Johnson has published a new Windows 8 app for consumers, Digital Health Scorecard, via the Windows Store.

Don Jones of Qualcomm predicted that the Affordable Care Act combined with mHealth will enable more efficient consumerism.

“…Obamacare will create more insured people with high deductible plans, and therefore the first dollar will be out of pocket for these people, much like health plans in the 1970s. The difference is that today, these health consumers will use mobile tools to enable their shopping and better informed about wellness.” Consequently the panel agreed, they’ll have increased ownership and be a more health competent consumer.

According to Mark Bertolini CEO of Aetna, at the end of 2010, 9 percent of mobile phone users had apps on their phones to track or manage their health. By 2015, experts predict 30 percent of smartphone users are likely to use wellness apps.

David Yakimischak of Surescripts said said, “…today the patient is both at the edge of our systems and at the center of our systems…” Yakimischak expects more and more patients to “…write directly to our systems…” He continued, “…technology should enable pharmacists and care givers.

Chanin Wending, Geisinger Health System said, “…patients aren’t really great at calling their doctor and stating that they have a problem. So Wending uses a survey, which is based on a nationally validated instrument that can be answered from the patient’s iPhone, Android device, or other mobile phone. Ms. Wending said that proactive outreach and patient engagement via mobile devices has improved information for the physician, but the challenge continues to be ensuring that patients will act on available information to improve their health.

Scott Peterson of Verizon said he predicts call centers and health analytics will help determine how patients can receive data to their mobile device that is most helpful.

Digital scorecards, mobile devices and ‘frugal technologies’ such as paper check lists can be combined to improve health outcomes” said Scott Ratzan of Johnson & Johnson.

Jones switched gears and led the panel through prescribing an app that might be prescribed in concert with medication. Where will the App be fulfilled? J&J, Verizon? Distribution channels, changing models from diagnosis & treat to “be well.” The information that is critical at decision time needs to be right.

The panel agreed that a ‘score’ that is able to gage health over time with a dashboard that is easy to understand by the consumer.

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Michael is Managing Partner & CEO of No World Borders, a leading healthcare management and IT consulting firm. He serves as an expert witness in Federal and State Court and was recently ruled as an expert by a 9th Circuit Federal Judge. He serves as a patent expert witness on intellectual property disputes, both as a Technical Expert and a Damages expert. He leads a team that provides Cybersecurity best practices for healthcare clients, ICD-10 Consulting, Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records. He advises legal teams as an expert witness in HIPAA Privacy and Security, medical coding and billing and usual and customary cost of care, the Affordable Care Act and benefits enrollment, white collar crime, False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback, Stark Law, Insurance Fraud, payor-provider disputes, and consults to venture capital and private equity firms on mHealth, Cloud Computing in Healthcare, and Software as a Service. He advises self-insured employers on cost of care and regulations. Arrigo was recently retained by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding a significant false claims act investigation. He has provided opinions on over $1 billion in health care claims and due diligence on over $8 billion in healthcare mergers and acquisitions. Education: UC Irvine - Economics and Computer Science, University of Southern California - Business, studies at Stanford Medical School - Biomedical Informatics, studies at Harvard Medical School - Bioethics. Trained in over 10 medical specialties in medical billing and coding. Trained by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and PTAB Judges on patent statutes, rules and case law (as a non-attorney to better advise clients on Technical and Damages aspects of patent construction and claims). Mr. Arrigo has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and National Public Radio.